Cotton-separator.



No. 845,976. PAIENTED MAR. 5, 1907. W. A'. PATTERSON.

COTTON SEPARATOR.

APPLIOAT ION FILED D'EO.26,1905. 4 SHEBTS SHEET 1' I CUI Witnesseai Inventor W. A. gsathavson I PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907. W. A. PATTERSON.

4 snare-smart z A w m n W NY 6 Rb T u m m T \m P A I I w 5. l- I m m3. qmw um mm nil-Lilla???:xFIkhE hF {lllllL-lulllui,

I mv.LIII/IIIIIIIIlI/ll/ lirlllllllrlllllzlfiflwlllllfllll ll/IIIIIIII V/IIIIIgllllilll/III II Q I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I COTTON SEPARATOR. APPLICATION FILED DEO.26,1Q05.

Witnesses rue: NORRIS zrzns C0,, WASHINGTGN, n. c.

PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

w. A. PATTERSON.

BUTTON SBPARATOR. urmoumn FILED nno.2e,1os.

50 Figs 4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

Witnesses z nouns p rzns :0 WA

Inventor; arren HPatterson' hi2 zeal? No! 845,976. I PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

w. A. PATTERSON.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

' Warren A; Patterson Witnesses by Alst'yfs.

Inmcmlv, o. c,

Inventor:- I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WARREN A. PATTERSON, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN COTTON SEPARATOR COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORA- TION OF OKLAHOMA TERRITORY.

COTTON-SEPARATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 5, 1907.

Application filed December 26. 1.905. Serial No. 293,333.

To ctZZ whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, WARREN A. PATTER- soN, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a oertain new and useful Im rovement in Cotton- Separators, of which t 1e following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a cotton-separator embodying the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through the machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view through one of the toothed bands with which some of the cylinders are provided. Fig. 4 is a similar view of a slightly-different form of band with which the two cylinders at the end of the machine are provided. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a detail end view of one of the cylinders. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the box-like structure which forms a partition between the upper and lower chambers of the casing of the machine, and Fig. 8 is a perspective View of one of the adjustable baflies.

This invention relates tov cotton-separators; and the object of the invention is to provide a machine for removing cotton from the bolls or outer covering in which the cotton is incased, and thus prepare the cotton for gin- Illl'l 1% the machine herein shown, which represents the preferred form of my invention, means is provided for separating the cotton from the bolls and conveying it away to a suitable point and also conveying the bolls to a suitable point, thereby overcoming the slow and tedious methodof manually picking the cotton from the bolls, and thus reducing considerably the cost of preparing the cotton for market.

Preferably a mass of bolls is fed into the machine by an air-blast, which also operates to carry the cotton from the machine, said mass being agitated to break open the bolls and loosen them from the cotton, the bolls being thereafter stripped from the cotton and dropped onto a moving belt, which conveys them away to a discharge-opening in the machine. The air-blast carries the mass of bolls and cotton into engagement with rotating members provided with teeth to which the cotton adheres, so that it is carried past stationary baffles which strip the bolls from the cotton, the cotton being removed from said rotating members and thrown into the path of the air-blast, which carries it out of the machine by devices preferably consisting of rotating brushes. As a single airblast is used for carrying the mass into engagement with the several rotating members and also carrying the cotton out of the machine after the bolls have been stripped therefrom, it is necessary to provide some means for controlling the air-blast so that it will not rush to the upper portion of the casing of the machine as soon as it enters the casing. Accordingly in the machine herein shown the baffles extend the full width of the casing and cooperate with the rotating members to form a cut-off for the air-blast, the rotating members being so constructed that passage-ways are formed between said members and said baffles which are intermittingly opened and closed to permit some of the air to pass to the upper portion of the casing to carry the cotton out of the machine, while the rest of the air remains below said members and baffles and operates to carry the mass of bolls and cotton through the machine into engagement with the several rotating members.

The rotating members are so constructed that the air holds the cotton in engagement with the outer surface of said members while it is being carried to the upper portion of the casing, where it is removed by the rotating brushes, this being accomplished by providing each cylinder with an interior tube-like casing and a plurality of toothed strips, which are spaced away from the interior casing by'bars, so that a space is formed into which the air enters and creates a suction that holds the cotton on the outer surface of the cylinder.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a boXlike casing, into one end of which protrudes a tube 2 in communication with a device for producing a blast of air, and preferably consisting of a fan mounted in a housing 3. The fan-housing is provided with an opening in one side (not shown) into which the mass of bolls is introduced, and the blast forces said mass into engagement with a plurality of rotating beaters or agitators 4, which break the bolls and loosen the cotton incased therein. The mass of bolls and cotton then comes in contact with a rotating member comprising a cylinder 5, carried by a shaft 6, mounted in the casing 1 and consisting of skeleton frames 7, which support transversely-extending bars 8, having secured thereto bands 9, provided with flat teeth 10, which project forwardly in the direction of rotation of the cylinder. The skeleton frames 7 are provided with laterally-projecting flanges 11, which support an interior tube-like casing 12, that acts as a cut-off for the air-blast and also prevents any of the cotton from entering the interior of the cylinder, the center of said casing being strengthened by a disk 13.

' Projecting from the lefthand end wall of the casing 1 is a plate 14, which extends the full-width of the casing and acts as a baffle to strip the bolls from the cotton, and located above said baffle is a plate 15, which extends the fullv width of the casing. The

baffle 14 also cooperates with the tube-like casing 12 of the cylinder to form a small passage-way, through which some of the air can pass to the top of the casing 1, and as the bars 8 on the cylinder are located outside of the tube-like casing 12 said bars will act as valves to intermittently open and close said passage-way, the plate 15 acting as an auxiliary cut-off for the air-blast.

Near the top 18 of the casing is a rotating brush 17 which removes the cotton from the cylinder 5, as hereinafter described, and above said brush is a shield 16, which protects the brush from the air-blast and the cotton which said blast is carrying out of the machine, said shield consisting of a plate which extends the full width of the casing. As the air-blast forces the mass of bolls and cotton into engagement with the cylinder 5 the cotton will adhere to the teeth on the cylinder and will be carried past the baffle 14, which strips the bolls from the cotton. The air of course has a tendency to rise to the top of the casing 1, but is prevented from doing so by the baffle and the tube-like casing 12 of the cylinder, so that as soon as one of the bars 8 on the casing moves past the battle the air will rush through this passage-way to the top of the casing. The cotton being on the outside of the cylinder 5 and the air being in the space between the tube-like casing 12 and the bands of teeth 9, a suction will be created which holds the cotton on the cylinder until it reaches the upper portion of the casing, where it is removed by the brush 17,

the upward passage of the air having a tendency to force the cotton toward the top of the casing 1. The brush 17 rotates in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3 at a higher track 34.

speed than the cylinder 5, so that it not only removes the cotton from the cylinder, but throws it toward the top 18 of the easing into the path of the air-blast, which carries the cotton through the discharge-opening 19 at the right-hand end of the machine. The portion ofthe mass which has not been engaged by the teeth on cylinder 5 moves into contact with a picker consisting of a plurality of fingers 19 on a horizontally-extending shaft 20, which preferably rotates in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2 and serves to throw the mass into engagement with a second cylinder 25, similar in construction and operation to cylinder 5 and mounted on a shaft 25. Cooperating with said cylinder is a baffle-plate 26, extending the full width of the casing 1 and occupying an inclined position relatively to the plane of the axis of the cylinder, as shown in Fig. 2. Said baffleplate is adjustably mounted, and to provide for this its opposite ends are provided with ears 27, having elongated slots 28, which receive screws 29 in the sides of the casing 1. This is a desirable feature of my invention, as it enables me to vary the size of the space between the edge of said baffle and the periphery of the cylinder. A similar rotating brush 17, having a shield 16, cooperates with this cylinder and to enable a large mass to be operated on the machine is provided with four other cylinders 35, 45, 55, and 65, simi lar to the cylinders 5 and 25, and also cooperating baffles, rotating brushes, and shields therefor. The teeth 10 on the cylinders 55 and are slightly different from the teeth of the other cylinders, however, in that they project outwardly slightly, as shown in Fig. 4, instead of lying flat, as shown in Fig. 3, so that they will move through the mass and pick up any cotton which has passed through the machine without engaging the teeth on either of the cylinders 5, 25, 35, or 45.

The machine is provided with three other pickers, consisting of fingers 19, mounted on shafts 20 and operating to throw the cotton into engagement with the cylinders 35, 45, and 55. For conveying away the empty bolls the machine is provided with an endless belt 30, having transversely-extending bars 31, which form pockets that receive said bolls. Said belt travels over a positively-driven roller or cylinder 32, secured to a shaft 33, mounted in the sides of the casing 1, as shown in Fig. 5, and also travels upon a The track is carried by two parallel side plates 34*, fulcrumed at one end upon the shaft 33 and having journaled in their opposite ends an idle roller 36, over which the belt travels. A plate 37 is connectcd to the side plates 34 at some distance beneath the track 34, so that a box-like struc ture is formed, which divides the casing 1 of the machine into an upper chamber A and a lower chamber B, the movement of the belt 30 carrying the empty bolls from the chamher A andejecti-ng them through a dischargeopening 29, formed in the bottom of the cas ing 1. One of the side plates is provided with an opening 38, which registers with an opening closed by a door 39 in the casing 1 to enable the interior of said box-like structure to be cleaned out if it should become choked with lint or cotton, which would be apt to interfere with the operation of the roller 36. F or preventing the air-blast from entering the chamber B. one end of the casing is provided with an inwardly-projecting plate 40, which overlaps the upper edges of some of the bars 31 on the belt, and the other end of the casing is provided with a plurality of leaves 4], preferably formed of rubber and extending inwardly far enough to project between the bars of the belt, as shown in Fig. 2. As the mass of bolls and cotton is gradually thinned out during its progress through the machine, means is provided for varying the size of the space between cylinders 5, 35, 45, 55, and and. the adjacent portion of the belt, this being accomplished by the following mechanism Journaled in the sides'of the casing 1 is a rock-shaft 40*, provided with an arm. 41, having a roll 42, which engages a wear-plate 413, fastened to theunderneath face of the track 34, the side plates 34 being provided with elongated slots 44, through which said shaft extends. As shown in Fig. 1 the end of said shaft is squared to receive a wrench or other suitableimplementfor actuating the shaft, and fastened to said shaft is aratchet 44 that cooperates with a pivotally-mounted pawl 46, which prevents retrograde movement of said shaft. When said shaft is actuated, the movement of the arm 41 will swing the boxlike structure, consisting of the track and side plates, on its fulcrum 33, and thereby vary the distance between the cylinders and the belt. The adjustment of the right-hand end of said box-like structure also varies the pressure of the air, for when said box-like structure is moved nearer to the cylinders and baffles the space for the air-blast will be diminished, so that the air will be compressed and its pressure increased.

The top 18 of the casing 1 is hinged at 47 to the left-hand end wall of said casing, and at the opposite end of the casing is a yoke 48, secured to the side walls thereof. Adjustingscrews 50 are threaded into said yoke, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, and their lower ends are swiveled to the end of the top 18 by links 51. Accordingly means is thus provided for varying the size of the space between the shields 16 and the upper wall of the chamber A, as the quantity of cotton at the exit end of said chamber is greater than the quantity of cotton at the op r osite end of said chamber.

The mechanism for imparting movement to shaft 60, provided with anumber of; pulleys that drive belts which pass over pulleysontne ends of said shafts. The fan is driven by a belt 61, the agitators 4 inthe tube 2 by abjelt 62, the brushes 17 by a main belt 63 and a plurality of auxiliary belts 64, and the pickers 19 by a main belt 72 and a plurality of auxiliary belts 66. The cylinders 5, 25, &c., are driven by a main belt 67 and a plurality of auxiliary belts 68, and the roller or cylinder 32, which drives the endless belt 30, bya belt 69, passing over the pulley 6 on the end of the shaft 6 of cylinder 5 and a pulley 70 on the end of the shaft 33.

From the foregoing description of my-improved cotton-separator it will. be seen that the cotton can be prepared for ginning at, a comparatively small cost, and, moreover, an absolute cleansing of the cotton from bolls is insured.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A cotton-separator comprising a casing, means for delivering an air-blast to feed a mass of cotton-bolls into said casing, means for agitating and beating said bolls, a rotate ing member for engaging the cotton, a stationary baffle for engaging the bolls to strip them from the cotton, means for removing the cotton from said rotating member, and

means for conveying the empty bolls through a discharge-opening in the casing, the airblast operating to carry the cotton, through a second discharge-opening in the casing; substantially as described.

2. A cotton-separator comprising a casing, means for deliveringan airblast to feed a mass of cotton-bolls into said casing, means for agitating and beating said bolls, a baffle, a rotating member for engaging the cotton and carrying the bolls into engagement with said. baffle to strip said bolls from the cotton,

,a rotating brush for removing the cotton from said rotating member, and means for conveying the empty bolls out of the casing, the air-blast operating to carry the cotton from said casing; substantially as described.

3. In a cotton-separator, a casing provided with. a stationary baffle, a rotating member, provided with teeth. for engaging the cotton to carry the bolls into engagement with the bafiie to strip the bolls from the cotton, a rotating brush arranged adj acentthe top of said rotating member to remove the cotton therefrom, and a shield arranged between said brush and the top of the casing; sube stantially as described.

4. In a cotton-separator, a rotating meme ber provided with teeth for engaging the cotton, and an adjustably-mounted cooperating baflie extending transversely of said member and disposed at an. angle to. the axis of. said 1 member for stripping the bolls from thecote o 5 thevariousshafts,consists of apower-driven 1 ton; substantially as described.

5. In a cotton-separator, a plurality of rotating members provided wit teeth for engaging the cotton, a plurality of rotating brushes cooperating with said members to remove the cotton therefrom, and a baffle located between saidmembers and disposed at an angle to the axes thereof to strip the bolls from the cotton; substantially as described.

6. In a cotton-separator, a rotating member comprising end frames, transverselyextending bars connected to said frames, and bands connected to said bars and provided with forwardly-projecting teeth; substantially as described.

7. In a cotton-separator, a rotating member' comprising skeleton end frames, a tubelike casing secured to said frames, transversely-extending bars secured to said frames outside of said casing, and a plurality of circular bands connected to said bars, said bands being provided with flat teeth which project forwardly in the direction of rotation of said member; substantially as described.

8. In a cotton-separator, a casing, a plurality of rotating members mounted in said casing and having teeth. for engaging the cotton, and a bafiie located between said members for stripping the bolls from the cotton, said baffle extending the full width of the casing and being adiustably secured to the sidewalls thereof; substantially as described.

9. In a cotton-separator, a casing, means for delivering an air-blast to feed a mass of bolls into said casing, means in said casing for separating'the cotton from the bolls, an

endless belt for carrying away the emptybolls, and a box-like structure acting as a track for said belt to travel on and extending the fill width of said casing to divide it into two chambers, and means carried by the end walls of the casing and cooperating with said box-like structure to prevent the air-blast from passing from one chamber into the other;

substantially as described.

10. In a cotton-separator, a casing, means H101 nted in said casing for separating cotton from the bolls in which the cotton is incased, means for introducing a blast of air into said casing, an endless conveyer located in said casing for carrying away the empty bolls, a partition on which said conveyer travels, and means for varying the position of said partition relatively to the top of the casing; substantially as described.

11. In a cotton-separator, a casing, means mounted in saidcasing for separating cotton from the bolls in which the cotton is incased, a driven shaft 33 mounted in said casing and provided with a roller for driving an endless conveyer which carries away the empty bolls, a box-like structure fi'lcrumed on the shaft 33 and consisting of side plates and 'a track for the conveyer, an idler carried by the free ends of said side plates, and an adjrstable rock-shaft mounted in the casing of the machine and provided with means for engaging the box-like structure and moving it to vary the distance between the conveyer and the separating means; substantially as described.

12. A cotton-separator comprising a casing provided with a movable top. a partition for dividing said casing into an upper and lower chamber, means in said upper chamber for separating cotton from the bolls in which the cotton is incased, a conveyer i or carrying the empty bolls from the upper chamber into the lower chamber, means for moving the top of the casing to vary the space above the cotton-separating means, and means for adjtsting the partition to vary the space below said cotton-separating means and the conveyer; substantially as described.

13. A cotton-separator comprising a casing, a rotating member mounted in said casing for carrying cotton to the upper portion of the casing, means for delivering an air-blast into the casing below the axis of said rotating memberfor feeding cotton to said member, means for confining said air-blast below said axis, and means for permitting a portion of said blast to intermittently pass to the upper portion of the casing to carry the cotton out of the machine; substantially as described.

14. A cotton-separator comprising a casing, a plurality of toothed rotating members mornted in said casing for carrying cotton to the upper portion of the casing, means for removing the cotton from said members, means for delivering an air-blast into the casing below the axes of said members, means for preventing the air-blast from rising to the upper portion of the casing and thus cause it to pass i'nder all of said members, and means for permitting some of the air-blast to intermittently pass to the upper portion of the cylinder to carry the cotton out of the machine; substantially as described.

15. A cotton-separator comprising a casing, a cylinder mounted in said casing and consisting of an interior casing, cotton-engaging means spaced away from said interior casing and constructed to permit air to pass therethrough, means for delivering an air-blast into the casing below the axis of said cylinder, a baflie cooperating with said cylinder to form a passage-way through which the airblast can pass, and means carried by the interior casing of the cylinder forintermittently closing said passage-way; substantially as described.

16. A cotton-separator comprising a casing, rotating members mornted .in said casing for carrying cotton toward the top of the casing, means for delivering an air-blast into one end of said casing below said rotating members, means for preventing the air from rushing to the top of the casing and thiis cause it to pass below all of said rotating members, means 10- cated between said rotating members for perl signature, in the presence of two Witnesses, mitiing' some of the air to intermittently pass this 21st day of December, 1905. to tie to of the casing to carry the ootton I out of th? casing, and means for varying the l WARREN PATTERSON 5 size of the space in Which the air is confined Witnesses:

substantially as described. I WELLS L. CHURCH,

In testimony whereof I hereunto afliX my GEORGE BAKEWELL. 

